A Jurassic Field Trip
by CaptainTish
Summary: COMPLETE A college student gets stranded on Isla Sorna. Takes place during The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Please read and review!


**A Jurassic Field Trip  
**  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park.  
  
Summary: The story of an ordinary college student getting stranded on Isla Sorna and having to survive on her own is told through entries in a journal that she kept during her time on the island. Her adventures take place at the same time as the events of The Lost World: Jurassic Park.  
  
Author's Note: This may sound like a Mary Sue, but I just wanted to write the experiences of a normal person stuck on the island. I was inspired by watching Jurassic Park 3 and thinking about what it was like for Eric Kirby all by himself for all those weeks.

* * *

_Editor's Note, March 26, 2002_  
  
This manuscript was discovered on the restricted Costa Rican island, Isla Sorna, by Eric Kirby during his eight weeks stranded there in the summer of 2001. He was subsequently rescued by a party including Dr. Alan Grant, Paul and Amanda Kirby, and Billy Brennan. This narrative makes for an intriguing study of the ecology of the island.   
  
_June 29 (?), 1997  
_  
My name is Jane Williams. I'm a 22-year-old college student from America. My parent's address is 2394 Weston Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA. I'm writing this journal so maybe someday someone will find it and know what happened to me, and I guess just so I'll have someone to talk to, even if it's just a piece of paper. So here we go.  
  
I've been in Costa Rica for the past three weeks, on a school trip sponsored by the biology department. I'm not a biology major--I'm a history major--but I was taking Biology last semester, and that's how I found out about the trip. Even though I wasn't particularly interested in studying howler monkeys and iguanas, a couple of my friends, Ryan Johnson and Tricia Carlson, were going, and it was a great opportunity to travel. All my life I've lived in California, never really been anywhere. Well, that's all changed now.  
  
A week ago, was when everything changed. Me, and five other students, along with one instructor, Mr. Giardino, were going on a field trip to one of the little islands off the west coast. There's lost of little islands out there, that are largely unexplored. Like this one I'm on now, I guess. Anyway, when we were halfway there, a storm came up, and we were blown off course. Then something went wrong, and the helicopter started coming apart. It broke up into like three different pieces, and the piece I was in crash-landed in the jungle on this weird island. The only other person with me was this guy from my biology class, I didn't even know his name, and he died in the crash. So I'm alone now. I don't know where the others are, Mr. Giardino, my friends Ryan and Tricia, and the other two kids who I didn't know very well--Paul and Lisa--they could all be dead, or lost on sea, or if they're lucky, they're on this island, too, somewhere. I'm going to start looking for them, once I find a safe place to shelter.  
Anyway, once I got over the initial shock of the crash landing, and the death of my fellow student, and the realization that I was alone on a jungle island, I salvaged what I could from the piece of plane. I had my backpack, with a sack lunch, a camera, this notebook, some pens and pencils, tissues, some aspirin, a ponytail holder, some plastic baggies for samples, and, well, that's about it. It was just supposed to be a day trip. I was fortunate enough that in my section of plane there was a first aid kit, which I used to treat my cuts and scrapes, and then stuck in my backpack. Then I ventured out into the jungle.  
  
I'm tired of writing. I'll have to continue this in the morning.  
  
_June 30, 1997_  
  
I had a bad night last night. I kept hearing sounds, and seeing shadows. I could hardly sleep, and my sleep was plagued by constant nightmares. This little cave is the safest place I could find, and I know no animals could fit through that opening, but still I worry. Maybe I should try to find a better place.  
  
Back to my story.  
  
I'm not much of an outdoor person, but I slogged my way through the jungle, hoping to find some people. At least I was dressed for this--I was wearing khaki shorts, a lightweight blouse, and hiking boots. The foliage was quite dense, and everything was dripping wet. At first, I tried calling out for people. Maybe my friends were nearby, I hoped. Or maybe people lived on this island. When I heard a roar, I shut up pretty quick. It was way off in the distance, but it scared me, and decided it would be better to be as quiet as possible. I wondered what kind of animals lived in Costa Rican jungle. I could never have imagined what kind of animals were really on this island.  
  
When I reached the edge of the jungle, I was on a ridge overlooking a wide valley. What I saw shocked me to my very core. Dinosaurs!!!! Live dinosaurs!! There was a herd of brontosauruses or whatever, you know, the ones with the long necks. They were grazing on some tall trees near a lake in which there were some smaller green dinosaurs drinking. On the other side of the valley, there were a bunch of triceratops. I was amazed at how beautiful the scene was. I stood there for several long moments, letting it sink in. Had I traveled back in time? Was this some sort of lost world, where time had stood still, like in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book? It was crazy, but the evidence was right in front of my eyes.  
  
I was admiring the gracefulness of the brontosaurs, when I noticed some motion by a stand of trees near the triceratops herd. The trikes were acting all nervous, stamping around and shaking their heads. By the trees, I saw several medium sized dinosaurs with long snouts, and really sharp, dangerous looking claws. It looked like they were hunting. Then right there while I was watching, they attacked! They worked as a pack, and within seconds they had brought down a triceratops, and were slashing and ripping at the dead body. Nauseated, I turned and fled back into the jungle. I ran for several minutes, my heart pounding in fear, and then just collapsed onto my hands and knees and threw up.  
  
When I was a little kid, I was deeply terrified of dinosaurs. I don't know why, 'cause it wasn't just the carnivores that disturbed me, even the peaceful herbivores scared me. But they were all just so alien, so different from any life form that was now on Earth. As I got older, I got over my silly fear; after all they were extinct animals. I knew about as much about dinosaurs as anyone else, and I actually found them quite fascinating. The predators were truly terrifying, but all in all, the dinosaurs were actually kind of beautiful in their way. I looked at it as another period of history, which I loved. But now that I'd seen those predators in action, all my old fears were revived. How was I going to survive here? Would those animals hunt me?  
  
I knew then that before I did anything, before I went looking for people or anything, I had to find some secure shelter. So, being extremely cautious, and very, very quiet, I continued to explore the island. And to my surprise (How many more surprises could I handle?), I found a compound of buildings in the next valley over. So that answered one question. I was in the present, and not on a "lost world". I was absolutely delighted to see buildings. I was sure this meant that in a few minutes, I would be among people, in civilization. I broke into a run toward the compound, and in a few minutes I got there, but I realized the buildings were abandoned, some falling apart, and others becoming overgrown by the jungle plants. There was a sign that said, "InGen--We make your future" at the entrance to the compound.  
  
I went into the main building to do a little investigating. What I found was an abandoned office building. Plants were starting to overtake the place, but there was a ton of stuff left behind. I saw animal droppings, just small ones, but I proceeded with caution anyway.  
  
I guess I spent the rest of that day in the office building. I felt sort of safe in there, since it seemed so ordinary. Offices, waiting areas, desks, meeting rooms. All so normal. And I found a lot of information from papers left in the desks and filing cabinets. The story I pieced together was incredible. But it can wait till tomorrow.  
  
_July 1, 1997_  
  
Another day is dawned. I had breakfast--canned beans again--and now I think I should be able to bring the rest of this story up to date. Okay, so I figured out the history of the island.  
  
Apparently a few years back, a genetic engineering company called InGen, found a way to clone dinosaurs using DNA found in fossilized amber. They grew the dinosaurs on this island, which they called "Site B", but which was officially named Isla Sorna. Then they shipped the animals to another island, Isla Nublar, where they built a huge theme park, called Jurassic Park. They were going to open it to tourists, but something went horrible wrong, and the animals got loose on the island and killed three people. The whole place was destroyed. Not long after that Site B was abandoned. I think it was because of a storm or something. So, I guess ever since then the dinosaurs have been running around on this island. You know, it's funny, I vaguely remember hearing something about this scientist, a few years back, and he had this crazy story about how he went to this dinosaur theme park on an island and a bunch of people died. It was in all the tabloids, and it was like a big joke. But I guess it was true. Jurassic Park. Catchy name for an amusement park.  
  
Well, at least that company, InGen, knew about this island I was on. Maybe there was some hope for rescue. I slept the night under a desk in one of the offices.  
  
The next day I explored the rest of the compound, and found a power plant, tons of laboratories, what seemed to be some sort of factory, lots of animal handling equipment, trucks and machinery, places for the workers to live, and amenities for the workers. I determined that the dormitory building was fairly safe--there was no sign of animals there. The walls were incredibly thick, and the windows had reinforced glass and bars. To be on the safe side, I spent the whole day boarding up the room I thought I would use. It was a corner room on the 4th floor. I boarded up the one window, but left a small hole, so I could see out. I scavenged around, and found some lanterns, plenty of blankets and pillows, a first aid kit, some tools and other supplies. I gathered up all the canned food I could find. There was a sort of convenience store in the compound, and there I found toiletries, even some clothing-most of which said InGen on it.  
  
That night I feasted on baked beans and Chef Boyardee spaghetti. I settled down to sleep on the single bed in the room, but I lay awake for hours listening to the sounds of the jungle. Some of the noises were soothing -- like crickets, but every once and a while, there would be a terrific shriek or a mighty roar to tear through the night. The roars sounded far away, but sometimes I heard a snuffling or a grunting, that could have been coming from the compound even. Boy, if I had known just how close the animals actually were!  
  
The next few days, I spent exploring the compound. I gathered more supplies and stored it all in my room. I packed several backpacks with food and things, in case I needed to travel. I found a ton of information about InGen and the dinosaurs, and I spent hours studying that. I learned about the different species on the island, and observations of their behavior and which areas they liked to roam. I was a little disturbed to read that most of the predators seemed to prefer the island interior, which according to the maps, was where the compound was located. But in the few days I had been here, I hadn't seen any large animals. Just a few little herbivores. I memorized the names and appearances of the different animals, and the relevant facts, like which ones might eat me. During the days when InGen was on this island, there had been some incidents involving the velociraptors. The raptors were human-sized predators that were really vicious, and on more than one occasion there had been accidents, where raptors had gotten loose and killed some of the workers.  
  
Anyway, those few days were relatively peaceful, and I was starting to slightly adjust to my surroundings. But that night the attack came.  
  
I should have known the compound wasn't safe. I had seen evidence of animals all around outside, and in the main parts of some of the large buildings. But the inside of the dormitory seemed pretty much untouched, and I was sure I would be pretty safe up on the fourth floor, which was as high as the building went. But raptors are smart animals, and they're cunning, and can figure out ways to get to their prey.  
  
I was just getting sleepy, when I heard a noise outside the door, in the hall. I immediately was wide awake, and sat bolt upright. I went to my door and looked through the peephole. To my horror, I saw three raptors moving stealthily down the hall, poking their head into the different rooms. They were headed in my direction.  
  
My heart pounding, I started moving furniture toward the door as quietly as I could, to form a barricade, but I guess they heard me, cause I heard them make some loud honking sounds, and when I looked through the peephole again, they were now moving directly toward my door. I got the desk and the bed in front of the door, and then went to the window. The first crash came to the door, and I looked back to see the jolt of the impact of the animal throwing it's large body against the door. I quickly started scrambling to get the boards off the window. I knew I had to get out of that room fast! It wouldn't be long before the raptors would break the door down. I got the boards off the window, and looked down four stories to the ground. There were two more raptors milling around down there! I looked back at the door in despair. The wood was starting to splinter. I was as panicked as I'd ever been in my life. I had read InGen's reports of raptor attacks. It was not a nice way to go. I leaned out the window, and looked up toward the roof. I thought that if I stood on the sill I could reach. I quickly scrambled up until I was sitting on the ledge holding onto the upper sill. Carefully I started to climb to my feet. I heard a roar below me, and looking down I saw the raptors had seen me, and one of them leaped straight up into the air, reaching as high as the second story. Spurred on by this new danger, I grasped the roof shingles, and gathered my strength. I have never been good at this sort of physical activity. I'm very uncoordinated -- you might call it clumsy -- and I'm not very strong. But now both the raptors were leaping into the air and snapping their jaws at me. I took a deep breath, and using all my upper body strength I pulled myself up toward the roof, kicking my legs against the walls to sort of walk myself up. With one monumental effort, I pulled myself up over the edge so that only my legs were dangling over. I rolled over so my whole body was lying on the roof and panted. Then I got to my knees and peered over the side. I saw a raptor stick it's head out the window and look all around. It looked up, saw me, and hissed. Then it started to climb out the window. I got to my feet and ran. I hardly paid attention to where I was going, I just ran. Fear lent me wings. I ran across the roof to the other side of the building, gave a flying leap, and landed in a tree. The forest was dense here, and I clambered through the branches as fast as I could, tearing my clothes and scratching my hands and face along the way. Finally I found myself in a big sturdy tree that I climbed up as far as I could. There I settled myself in an intersection of several huge branches. I looked down and saw several velociraptors circling the tree and snarling. But there was no way for them to get up. The lowest branches were several feet higher than the highest they could jump.  
  
I got absolutely no sleep that night. The raptors hung around the tree all night. I spent the entire time in perpetual terror. As daylight approached, they started to slink off, one by one. When full day came, none were left. I finally was able to get some sleep.  
  
When I woke in the middle of the day, I was starving, and I realized I would have to go back to the dormitory to fetch some of my things, or I would never survive on this island. But I knew that place was no longer safe to live in. I would have to study the map and find a place not frequented by any carnivores.  
  
It took all of my courage to go back to the site of the previous night's terror, but I carefully and cautiously made my way back to the dorm room I had been living in. When I was sure there were no animals around, I went in, and got as much of the things I could carry. I made sure to take the notebook that had all the compiled information about this island. Then I left the compound, and set off through the jungle in the most direct route I could figure out to get out of the carnivore's territory. I had to get out of the island interior. That's where most of the carnivores spent most of their time.  
  
It was a day's walk to get to the ridge I had marked on the map as an area that might be safe. I found a medium sized cave that had a small opening, barely noticeable, no large animal could get through. And that's where I am now. The last couple of days I just spent sleeping, and writing in this journal. I've kind of lost track of the date, but as close as I can figure it's been a week since I landed here, so that makes it July 1. I think. Well, that's what I'm going with.  
  
I have enough food to last another couple weeks, if I ration very carefully. Then I'll have to look for food. I dread the idea of going back to the compound. Maybe there's some fish in a stream around here or something. I haven't heard any roars or growls in the vicinity. I think I'm probably in the territory of some herbivores. Still, I'd like to get farther into safe territory. Not that anywhere is really safe. I mean, wherever there's herbivores, there's going to be some carnivores hunting them, right? I wish Ryan were here. And Tricia. And Paul and Lisa and Mr. Giardino. I wonder where they are. I hope they're OK.  
  
_July 4, 1997  
_  
My family must be worried sick about me. They must have been notified when Mr. Giardino's group never returned to the mainland. I wonder if the government even knows about this island. Do they know what's on it? I remember a conversation my friends and I had just a couple days after we arrived in Costa Rica. We were sitting in a small cafe in San Jose. Paul said he had heard that there were some strange animals turning up along the coast. They were like some sort of unidentified lizards that the government was all nervous about. He was all excited to get to the beach to look for them. Tricia said if the government was all secretive about it, none of us would get a chance to see one. I didn't pay much attention. Paul was kind of a geek, I thought. I didn't know him very well. He was in my Biology class, and he seemed really smart. I agreed with Tricia. She had been my friend for a long time, and I knew she was really sensible. If the Costa Rican government was finding some weird species of lizard, I didn't know why they would destroy them instead of studying them, but I accepted the idea that the government would get all weird and secretive about something. After all the U.S. government did the same thing with all that Area 51 stuff. I saw it on the Discovery channel.  
  
San Jose was a nice place. I would have liked to stay there longer, but being basically a biology expedition, we moved on to this biological preserve on the coast. We spent the next 10 days there observing wildlife, taking pictures, going on little field trips into the jungle, and stuff like that. Then Mr. Giardino offered to take a few students on this field trip to one of the little islands, and when I heard my friend Ryan was going, I convinced Tricia to come with me. See, I have a little crush on Ryan. We've been friends forever, since like 9th grade, but recently I've started to see something more in him. So that's how I ended up on that stupid field trip. We were supposed to go home just two days later. If I hadn't insisted on coming, I would be home right now. And I wouldn't have dragged Tricia here, either. But Ryan would still have disappeared, and I never would have known what happened to him. Hey, I still don't know what happened to him. He, and the others could be alive and well. I hope so.  
  
_July 8, 1997  
_  
Well, today was rather harrowing. I woke up and decided to make a trip to the village to get more canned food. I also had an idea to investigate the veterinary labs. Maybe I could find a tranquilizer gun or something. If I had some sort of way to defend myself, I might feel more secure. So I took a backpack with just a snack for the trip, and stuck the knife in my belt, just as I did every time I went outside my cave. Then I set off for the village.  
  
The walk there was remarkably uneventful. The only thing that happened was that I got held up by a herd of apatosaurs--that was the proper name for brontosauruses, I had learned from the InGen records--that was making their way across the valley. There was a huge long line of them, and I had to sit in a tree and wait about half an hour for the whole bunch of them to pass. I was amazed at how beautiful they were. Such long graceful necks, and their tails twirled around in intricate patterns. Stately creatures. Like whales, except land animals.  
  
When they had finally passed I was able to continue to the village and I got there by noon. I first went to the vet labs and to my relief I found a stock of like 10 rifles, and a supply of tranquilizer cartridges. I took two rifles and stocked up on the tranquilizer. I also found some first aid supplies that might come in handy. Then I went to the kitchen and stocked up on cans of food. Deeming it a successful visit, and I got ready to leave when I heard a noise that chilled me to the bone. Velociraptors were outside honking at each other!  
  
I dropped to the floor and crawled toward the outside window. I slowly raised myself up to peek outside. There were four raptors between my building and the gate of the village. They seemed to be snooping around in the area outside the building. I sank down and leaned against the wall, feeling short of breath. There was no way I could get past them. My only chance was to hide in here until they were gone.  
  
I sat there practically holding my breath, and listened for them to leave. After about 20 minutes, just when I was starting to think I needed to move, to get out of there, their noises started to fade and grow more distant. I started to relax, slowly. After there had been silence outside for a while, I peeked out the window. No raptors. I stood up and walked to the door. I decided to leave now, while it was still daylight. I gathered up my supplies and holding my tranquilizer rifle at the ready, left the compound and headed back to my cave jumping at every little noise I heard.  
  
_July 10, 1997_  
  
I saw smoke today, off in the distance! I thought it might have been from a fire, and I was afraid it might spread and head my way. I started packing up my things, just in case I had to get out of here in a hurry. I was standing there outside my cave, watching the smoke and it suddenly occurred to me that it sort of looked like it could be coming from a campfire. I stood there staring at it for some time. Could it be people? I finally came to the conclusion that it was indeed a campfire, built by human beings, and that it was coming from just the next valley over. I didn't know how long it would take me to travel there, and it could be dangerous, walking through who knew what kind of dinosaur's territory, but I've resolved to leave first thing tomorrow morning.  
  
_July 11, 1997_  
  
I am taking a short break to eat my lunch and rest my legs before climbing these hills that divide my valley from the next one. If I'm right, and I hope I am, I will find an encampment somewhere in there. Maybe Ryan and Tricia, and Mr. Giardino, Paul and Lisa were all there, alive and well!  
  
_July 11, 1997 (cont'd)  
_  
It's night. It took my all afternoon to climb the hills. I decided to camp at the rocky summit. I figured it would be safer than in the valley. Tomorrow, I'll descend the hill, which should be much easier and start looking for the origin of that campfire. I saw it again this evening. So I know what direction to go in. As I've been sitting here, I've noticed a bunch of these little miniature dinosaurs. They are so cute. They just run around, and look at me with a curious tilt to their heads, and chirping. I'm going to climb up into this tree to sleep. I don't know what animals might come by when I'm sleeping.  
  
_July 12, 1997  
_  
Well, tonight I get to fall asleep in a nice warm tent, surrounded by my friends, and a campfire outside, and Mr. Giardino standing guard! What an incredible day. I haven't felt this happy and secure for the last two and a half weeks.  
  
This morning, I headed down the hillside. Like I thought, it took much less time to go down the hill than to go up it. I had a few slips and tumbles, but no serious injuries. Then I found myself in a wet jungle, and I headed off in what I thought was the right direction and hoped I wouldn't get lost.  
  
As I walked, I noticed that those cute little miniature dinosaurs were following me. Whenever I would stop and look back at them, they would stop and bob their heads innocently. At first I was amused, but after awhile it started to make me uneasy. The longer I walked through the dark jungle with those things following me, the more nervous I got. Then I tripped on a root, and went sprawling. I got the wind knocked out of me, and before I was able to get myself to my feet, the little dinos were jumping onto me. One of them nipped my hand, and I yelped, mostly from surprise. In an instant, I was scrambling to my feet and shaking them off me. I started to run. My headlong sprint through the jungle made me trip several times, but I managed to keep my balance and not fall down. The little dinosaurs kept following me! They managed to keep up with me no matter how fast I ran.  
  
Finally, just as I thought I wouldn't be able to run much longer, I crashed through some bushes and collided with something, an animal, about human sized! I screamed and tried to turn and run, but the animal captured me in its arms. Then I heard a gunshot which caused the little dinos to erupt into chaos and scatter in every direction. Then I heard a voice saying my name over and over. It was only then that my brain started to clear and I realized that the creature that was holding me was Ryan. I turned to him, and looked into his face, and then looked over and saw it was Mr. Giardino who had fired the gun to scare the little dinosaurs away. I threw my arms around Ryan and he hugged me tight.  
  
"Jane! We thought you were dead!" I was shaking and he stroked my hair soothing me, "You're okay now. You're all right."  
  
Then I heard a whoop and looked up and saw Tricia running toward us with a big grin on her face and joined our group hug. "Jane, you're alive."  
  
After a moment of this happy reunion, they led me over to the campfire, and told me their story. Paul and Lisa were there too. All five of them had survived the plane crash. They had been fortunate enough to be in the section of the plane with all the survival gear, and they had been able to set up this camp. They had thought they were the only survivors. So I told them my story and I told them everything I had learned about this island.  
  
"I told you guys there were weird animals showing up on the Costa Rican beaches," said Paul smugly.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," said Tricia tiredly, and I got the impression that Paul had been saying, "I told you so" for the past two weeks.  
  
"Well, at least this isn't a totally unknown island, right," I said hopefully. "Did the pilot send out an SOS or anything?"  
  
"I don't think he had time," Mr. Giardino told me. "The engine failure was so unexpected and rapid. Now, tell us more about this compound you saw. Could we shelter there?"  
  
"Not unless you want a raptor for a roommate." I told them the details of my adventures at the compound.  
  
I felt remarkably relaxed, sitting there amongst my friends. I'm not alone on this island anymore. I'm still going to keep on writing in this journal however. There's no way of knowing if we'll ever get off this island, and I would like someone to know what happened here.  
  
I'm going to go to sleep now. I can't keep my eyes open. Oh, one more thing -- they told me that they saw a helicopter this morning, to the east. They thought that it landed and then left again. They tried to get its attention, but it was no use. Still, they think maybe the helicopter dropped somebody off, strange as that may seem. If we can find them, maybe we'll have a way off this island. We have hope and that's what's important.  
  
_Editor's Note  
_  
There was no further account found. On July 17th, 1997, an international scandal broke surrounding the existence of living prehistoric creatures on Isla Nublar, when InGen attempted to bring specimens of Tyrannosaurus Rex into the United States for display in a theme park in San Diego, California. The expedition met with disaster on the island, and there were many casualties, but they were rescued, thanks in part to the efforts of another group, including Ian Malcolm, Sarah Harding, and Nick Van Owen, who had been sent to the island for the purpose of documenting the wildlife. What was not publicized was that a school group led by one Joseph Giardino and his students was also rescued during the InGen Incident.  
  
After discovery of this narrative, Jane Williams was tracked down. She is now a graduate student at the University of California Los Angeles, and she told us that she had lost her journal on the island after chaos ensued during their attempts to escape from the island with Malcolm, Harding, and the InGen expedition. She agreed to let us include it in this archive so that the many paleontologists who are still clamoring to get onto the interdicted island may have an insight into the behavior of the animals. Ms. Williams also commented on the issue: "That island is better left alone. We were very fortunate to find Dr. Malcolm, Dr. Harding, and the InGen people, with whom we were able to get off the island. We found them right after they had banded together when both their camps had been destroyed by dinosaurs. On our trek to the compound, many people were killed by raptors, and we had a very narrow escape. I'm happy to be alive, and anyone who would willingly go to that island is insane." 


End file.
